Happy Birthday!

Today I went to my grandmother's 100th Birthday party. She told me she hopes I live to be 100. I'm not so sure I feel the same way... She also told me I was her favorite part of the party. I may or may not have pressured her into saying that.

This picture is of my mom(standing), my Aunt Barbara, my grandma and me at our family reunion this past summer.

My grandma is an amazing woman and it was great to go to her party and see so many of her friends and family who are better people for having her in their lives. If I live to be even half as awesome as she is I'll consider my life a success.

Top Ten Christmas Songs About Which I Have Strong Feelings

There a a gazillion Christmas songs that could be on this list, but I'm limiting it to ten. And since I already told you about my favorite song, "Thistlehair," it didn't make this particular list.

10. Very Bad. 'Little Drummer Boy." I'm sorry-maybe I'm a huge Scrinch (Scrooge+Grinch) but I cannot stand this song. I mean, playing drums for a baby? A newborn baby? No way is that good for a baby's cognitive development. I realize that's not the point of the song. That I should focus on how nice it is that the little shepherd boy is doing the only thing he can for the Christ child. But the logical side of me (surprisingly, I do have a side like that) can't get past playing a drum for baby. And also, "the ox and lamb kept time." Really? How? Stomping? Swishing tails? It's just silly.

9. Good. Manheim Steamroller's "Hark the Herald Angels Sing." This is the first song on their blue album and it always got me so excited for the Christmas season. If this song was on during our decorating I was much more prone to quickly arrange and display things rather than drag my feet and do as little as possible.

8. Bad. "Linus and Lucy." I mean, really? It's not a Christmas song people! I get that it's on a Christmas movie...but you know what, so is the song you hear George Bailey and what's her face dance to before they fall in the pool. You don't hear that on the radio. Same goes from "My Favorite Things" for Sound of Music. You're taking songs I love and making me angry about them by playing them in the wrong context, people!

7. Good. I'm vaguley ashamed of these two (yeah, they're basically the same so they count as one) but still, I love them: "All I Want For Christmas" Mariah's version and Celine Dion's "Christmas Eve." They're grossly cheesey, but so fun to listen and sing along to in the car. And also to dance to with crazy cousins.

6. Tremendously Bad. "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." I struggle with movies and/or books that give animals human characteristics such as, I don't know, talking. (Don't even get me started on a walking, talking pile of snow.) Apparently that carried over to songs as well. Reindeers can't shout with glee. And also, it reminds me of the freakish clay-mation movies that are the stuff of nightmares.

5. Good. "Last Christmas" by Wham. Mostly cuz they say "...but the very next day, you gev it away." Gev. I swear-that's how they pronounce it and it makes me laugh every time.

4. Sort of Bad. "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year." Now really-this isn't a bad song. And it is as Johnny Mathis claims, arguably, the most wonderful time of the year. But, the part where it says, "...there'll be scary ghost stories..." What? Why? Why would there be ghost stories. Hello, it's not Halloween. I'm fairly certain none of my Christmas traditions involve ghost stories. Okay---and as I write this I may or may not have suddenly thought of A Christmas Carol. But I stand by my original belief: Christmas is not a time for ghost stories. Especially not scary ones.

3. Good. Kurt Bestor's "Silent Night." Just hearing that song makes me feel like I should be sitting by the fire in my parent's living room with no lights except those on the tree and drinking hot chocolate. Or maybe I'll turn some lights on so I can read a good Christmas book while I listen. Either way, there'll be hot chocolate.

2. Tremendously Good. "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas." I mean, whoever sings this some is made of pure awesome and has a voice cuter than a basket full of puppies. I could listen to it constantly during the holidays and still love it. And really, what's the thought process behind wanting a hippo for Christmas? What would one do with a pet hippo? And also, the hippo doesn't talk. I have no aversion to songs about animals who have solely animal characteristics.

1.5. Really Good. I'm cheating---but I have to include the entire Jackson Five Christmas CD. Except for songs 5-7 (which are mentioned in nubmers 10 and 6 on this list). I love Michael's younger voice---and the arrangements are not unlike my number 7 songs where I really just have to turn up the volume and sing in the car.

1. The Most Good. "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." Mostly, Judy Garland singing that song in Meet Me In St. Louis. Such a gorgeous voice and sweet moment in the movie (even though I'm mad at her for not staying engaged to John Truitt. And even though Tutti a little bit drives me crazy). It's just awesome.

What songs would you put on the list?

The Spirit of Christmas

I have a couple posts that are swimming around in my head right now that are somewhat sarcastic. Me? I know, weird right? But as I was thinking about posting one, my mom reminded me that today is my brother's 3rd "birthday." And that birthday made me feel much more like posting something positive.

A little over three years ago, my dad called me one night to say my brother Perry's kidneys were failing. Big time. He'd need a transplant ASAP or he'd have to go on dialysis. It was terrifying and heart breaking and I was so scared for him. No 23 year old should ever have to face a life-threatening situation like that. But Perry was. And he was so brave and positive about it. The response to people finding out about his failure was so amazing. Brothers, cousins, uncles, aunts...all were willing to offer up one of their own kidneys to save Perry's life. Our brother Joey grew up knowing about Perry's kidney condition and knowing that he'd probly end up being a donor one day. As soon as he found out about Perry, there was no hesitation on his part. He told Perry he'd always planned on giving a kidney to his brother---and he was ready.

There were a million prayers leading up to December 14, 2006 for the safety and health of Joey and Perry. I know the doctor's hands were guided that day so that everything went well. I know they were both blessed in their recovery.

Joey truly is a modern-day hero. He didn't hesitate for one second to give up a part of himself to save his brother. I'm so impressed by his sacrifice and grateful that today it could give me a feeling of the true spirit of Christmas.

Christmas is such a wonderful season and such a great excuse to open our hearts to serving and loving others. It's also a time to remember our Savior, the miracle of His birth and His sacrifice for us. I hope this season we all have a chance to recognize the heroes in our own lives and the blessing of our Savior.

My Gift to You

As my Christmas gift to all of you...I am introducing you into my cousin, Becky's, new blog.

That picture is Becky and me at Christmas-time, 1992. Becky was actually supposed to be my sister. But my parents stopped having kids after me...something about 12 being enough? Anyway, that means Becky was sent to my double cousin's family so she would not be left up in Heaven to suffer the almost-similar fate of poor Emily in Saturday's Warrior.

She (Becky, not Emily) also mistakenly went to BYU-Idaho and I'm still trying to convince her of the error of her ways...but for now will have to content myself with the fact that she finally has a blog. The picture below is Becky and me right before jumping off a bridge in New Zealand.


Becky is hilarious, her ability to quote movies is inspiring and her taste in cheesy romance books unparalleled. As my Christmas gift to you, I've provided you with the link to her blog. You're welcome. Go check it out. She even dedicated her first post to me.

Merry Christmas!! What are you planning on giving me?

Get a Backbone. Please.

I started watching the newest BBC version of Emma today. Against my better judgment. I've never liked that movie and it's not just because Gwenyth is in it. It's a bothersome movie. (That's not to say that it's remake, Clueless, isn't one of the best movies to come out of the 90s.) Anyway, I found out about it from my friend, Michelle's, blog.

I will say this: it's the best version (so far, I'm not finished yet) of Emma I've ever seen. And the girl who plays Emma does a fantastic job of NOT making me want to wring her neck as I usually do in such movies. Harriet, though. Poor Harriet. I mean-if the girl just had a backbone. If she could just make up her own mind. If she just weren't SO desperate to please Emma! Why can't she just marry Robert Martin in the first place? Really-it's ridiculous.

Even more ridiculous? Being so enamored with a painting cuz of who painted it. I mean-was the pastor (preacher? reverend?) so dim-witted as to think Emma would interpret his love of the portrait as his love for her? Honestly.

Anyway, after that marvelous review, here's the link of the first part of the first episode if you want to watch it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIDDka3X-LI&feature=related. One positive thing this movie had going for it: Mr. Knightly finally has a first name. It always drove me crazy that he never had one. Ridiculous.

I realize I may have some people want to stone me for my dislike of this so-called classic. If that's the case, so be it. I have a backbone and will stand by my opinion.

So Freakin Excited!

Seriously, starting Wednesday at 5pm, this week is gonna be AWESOME! I love Thanksgiving and here's why:

-Family is coming into town! My double cousins have(with one exception, I think?) always been with us on Thanksgiving. This year we also get four, maybe five, of my brothers, and an uncle and his family. This is the uncle that writes awesome music that I love to sit and listen to.

-Earning money. My mom gives us $5 if we quote Psalm 100 at dinner.

-Friday night sleep-over with said double cousins. We're gonna watch an old school favorite, and eat yummy food and then we'll get up in the morning to do Tae Bo.

-Yams. I make the yams. I make good yams. There are crazy people that don't think yams taste good and I try to make them SO yummy that even those people like them. How can you not like food that has marshmallows on top?!

-After dinner, my cousins and I break out our Nutcracker duet book and start the Christmas festivities. Plus, if we play real nicely, we don't have to help as much with the dishes:)

-The day after Thanksgiving, I'll go with my dad to pick out a Christmas tree. And we start decorations. And, the BEST part, we turn on Thistlehair, by Alabama. It's our quintessential family Christmas song. Dad LOVES it, mom HATES it, and the kids love watching the power struggle between the two of them turning it on and off.

-There is a small, local sports event happening on Saturday. Not too big of a deal...just BYU vs. Utah!!

And that is why I am so FREAKIN excited!! I know just how Sue feels.


What are you so freakin excited about?

Sort Of Wordless Wednesday

As of a couple weeks ago, I own this.



Also, I really want to go to this: http://www.utahchocolateshow.com/

Virtual Shopping Spree?

So over on Chief's blog yesterday she wrote about the five clothing items she'd buy with an open ended line of "cyber credit." Meaning...the money doesn't actually exist, but if it did, this it what I'd get.

First of all, I'd get this jacket. I used to have it---obviously. Seeing as that's me in front of "Barb's Place" somewhere in Canada. But then it got lost. I have no shortage of jackets, but this was a favorite. And I want it back.


Second, I'd get some Uggs. I spent many months mocking these shoes. Mostly cuz whenever people wore them it was with mini-skirts. A mini-skirt and sweaty-feet shoes? Not exactly a realistic combination. Then I put my friend's on the other day. Holy cow those things are comfy! Her's also happened to be five sizes too big so I tripped about eight times in the 30 minutes I had them on. But, now I want some. I have no idea when or where I'd wear them...but I know I'd love them.


I don't have a picture of my third item, cuz it doesn't exist. I want a magical pair of running shoes. It's SO hard finding good ones! I have really small feet, so more often than not I have to order them. But I also have high arches so I need good support. Or I need to add it in. And then if I run too much I start to get shin splints. I want shoes that make that not happen. For now I've solved the problem by not running. Yeah...not a good solution.

Anyway, I said five things, but those are the only three I REALLY want. That's not to say I wouldn't buy more clothes...I happen to love new clothes. But I just moved into a new house (more on that later) and am still reeling at the amount of clothes and shoes that needed to be moved and trying to figure out how I'll find room for them all. My family likes to joke that I've gone above and beyond the requirement to have a "two year supply" of things and I have my eight year supply of clothes.

What would you buy on your virtual shopping spree?

Random Randomness

I don't know if Motherboard is doing her Random Fridays with tunes yet. I'm writing this on Thursday and setting it to post on Friday. I've never tried to pre-write a post before. I just write when I feel like it, and then hit publish. We'll see if this works.

*****

I have a serious amount of movies. And I organize them by genre and then alphabetically. My biggest genre is chick flick, but my favorite genre is sports. The most recent addition to sports was Forever Strong. Great movie.

*****

I have even more books than I have movies. Shelves and shelves of books. Some shelves are doubled up. I have boxes of books up in the attic. I just bought a new book yesterday. Libraries are all well and good, but I like to own my books.

*****

I have a lot of music, too. I don't buy CD's as much, because now I just use youtube, playlist, or itunes to listen to what I really want. I have long lists of music that I like to listen to, though. And I own LOTS of piano music. More music than I could play in a week. And you know how I double up my books? I do that with sheet music, too. When I accompany, I put sheet music in those clear page holders. And then when I get a new song to accompany, I put that in front of what I already had. It just keeps getting thicker and thicker.

*****

In the past 3 days I've eaten 12 apples. I think I've become addicted. But there are worse things to be addicted to, right? I don't eat apples whole. I only like them if they've been cut up.

*****

I love Thanksgiving. I refuse to steamroll it by getting into the wonderfulness of Christmas yet. I need to focus just on that holiday. We used to have MASSIVE family gatherings for Thanksgiving. For some reason, those gatherings have gotten smaller and smaller over the years. I tried to make it a big one this year...had my mom invite more of her siblings and what not. But they're all busy with they're own families. Stupid growing up and having new families.

*****

I have only one song for this Friday's tunes: The Future Freaks Me Out by Motion City Soundtrack. Good song. Accurate.

Two Top Fives

I'm following along with Top Ten Thursday again---but I couldn't really decide on two things I had top ten's to list. So, two top five lists. Lucky you guys!!

Top 5 Things I Did Not Want in my Halloween Bag
5. Smarties. Really? That's what you're handing out for Halloween? Do you hate children? Do you want you home to be egged?
4. Those pumpkin colored taffies. They may look festive, but they taste like metal.
3. Anything sour. I think I broke my jaw eating sour candy once. No joke. The stuff is evil.
2. Kit Kats. I love chocolate---but for some reason, I don't think Kit Kats really have any place on this planet.
1. Candy Corn. Why don't you just give me sugar to melt instead. It's cheaper---and it'd taste better, too.

So, what candy did I buy to pass out at my parent's this year? Kit Kats and sour stuff. It's a survival thing. While I pass things out I have zero inclination to snack.

Top 5 Movies I'm Certain I'll Never Not Wanna Watch
5. Anne of Avonlea. Enough Said
4. Singin' in the Rain. Maybe the story is about Don Lockwood and Cathy Zelden, but I always loved Cosmo.
3. 7 Brides for 7 Brothers. The first musical I ever knew and loved. It's entirely possible I can quote this by heart. (Close behind are Newsies and That Thing You Do.)
2. Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken. With the guy from 16 Candles, only he's way hotter in this. Plus, there's a red-headed side-kick. If that's not a recipe for success, I really don't know what is.
1. She's the Man. Full on hilarious and not even kind of believable. I could watch this movie 5 times in one weekend. Oh wait, I definitely have. With my roommate before she ran off and got herself married. That was a good weekend.

If you wanna play along with the movie top ten, check out this place. Or, you can find out the top ten uses of peanut butter and why I'm going to be eating it very soon over here.

How Do You Go Green?

Personally, I try to save on bathwater...by putting my niece in the sink when I give her a bath. And hey-while she plays around, I get the dishes done!

And while I did dishes, she helped me by wiping off the counter. (Her idea.)

Being green is SO much fun that my nephew wanted to join in, too.


And some things that are definitely NOT going green:

I am a summer girl. I LOVE the heat! But these Fall colors are out-of-this-world gorgeous, yes? I had my camera in my car and just took a few pictures of the trees around BYU campus. I couldn't get over how beautiful they were.

My mom thinks our neighbor's tree is the prettiest one around.

And here's the pretty fire bush I see every day when I come home from work.

Yes, I suppose the Fall colors make up for the fact that it's not 80 degrees outside anymore.

The Best Thing About Movies?

The soundtrack. Movie soundtracks can make or break a movie. I mean, when you think about Star Wars, or Jaws or Superman---isn't it all of .2 seconds before you start singing the theme song? And it's not just John William's scores that are amazing. What about Anne of Green Gables? Love that.

Rudy is my favorite movie and I'm not sure if I love it so much because of the music, or if I love the music so much cuz it's a great movie. Either way, if there were one without the other I'm pretty sure I wouldn't own both. Other good movies made awesome by the music: any and all Pirates, Pearl Harbor, Truman Show, Transformers...I could go on.

Master and Commander? Uh, horrid movie. Boring as all get out. The soundtrack? Awesome. Totally own it.

So, this past weekend I watched Collateral. Um...tolerable movie. I didn't love it all that much. Granted, I don't like Tom Cruise or Jamie Foxx, but I tried not to let that sentiment blindly prejudice my opinion. I only do that with Hilary Swank movies. Anyway, there's one scene in the movie where they've included an amazing interpretation of "Air" by Bach. It was amazing---best part of the movie. You might even say it redeemed the movie a little bit in my mind. Thank heavens youtube enables me to listen to it constantly now.

What about you? What soundtracks do you love?

Homemade Oreos

Our internet is down at home so I'm breaking one of the only rules I made for my work-self and getting on my blog at work. The things I do for this blog... Of course, watching TV episodes, browsing facebook and other peoples' blogs is totally fine at work. Please don't ask me what the difference is.

Anyway, CaJoh is doing Friday Feast tomorrow and asked for some recipes. I'm sending him my fail-proof homemade oreos. Fail-proof cuz everyone likes them and if I ever have the desire to make something for a boy, these are my first pick. These things ridiculously easy to make and so good. The only thing I don't like is that the frosting aspect can be time consuming. Anyway, here's the recipe:
Cookie
2 pkgs Devils Food Cake Mix
4 eggs
2/3 C oil
1/2 C flour

Mix with dough hook
Roll into walnut sized balls (I usually do bigger-who wants a small oreo?) and flatten a bit.
Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.
Frosting
I prefer store-bought frosting, you can pick the flavor of your choice and I'm not all that partial to home-made frosting. But if you want homemade filling:
1 lb powdered sugar
8 oz cream cheese
1 cube margarine

There ya go---hope you like it. I don't know what my deal is, but lately I've been addicted to food blogs. Mostly food blogs featuring desserts. Mostly featuring desserts that are chocolate and peanut-butter centered. There's a chocolate cake I found with Reeses mixed it and used for frosting...pretty sure I'm gonna need to make that. Soon. Maybe for movie night at my brother's this Saturday.

Top Ten Favorite Books

Gosh-I hardly know where to start, and I'll warn you, this post is kinda long. I just have so much to say about the books I love. I love to read. Love it so much that when I find a book I really like I will basically ignore the world that day and finish it all that same day. I love getting a brand new book and seeing all the pages I get to read. I'm always sad when I get to the end of a book---I get so excited to read a brand new story, and then it's over so soon! Anyway, now that I've revealed how much of a nerd I am (actually, it gets worse; just wait till you see the list) here are my top ten books.

10. True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Ruth E. Avi. I first read this book in fourth grade. Actually, my fourth grade teacher read it to our class and everyone, boys included, loved it. She read a lot of books to us and I had a hard time picking a favorite (Call it Courage, Banner in the Sky, Indian in the Cupboard series...all brilliant) but this one won out cuz I've re-read it the most. I even re-read it that same year with my mom. It's such an exciting book---seriously, all little girls should read this. And, I just found out it's being made into a movie. Yea!

9. The Sneetches and Other Stories by Dr. Seuss. Brilliant stories, fun words, silly rhyming. What's not to love? I'm not joking when I tell you my family quotes Dr. Seuss frequently (probly not hard to believe considering my blog name). I wrote a paper on the story/poem "Too Many Daves," in college. My brother sent us a picture from his mission of somebody wearing pale green pants like the ones in "What Was I Scared Of," and I still can't figure out why the south-going Zax didn't just let the north-going Zax leap-frog over him becuse that would've solved all their problems. It was hard to pick a favorite Dr. Seuss book, but since this one contained multiple stories it won out.

8. Princess Academy by Shannon Hale. I love the stories Shannon Hale writes. The fairly tale aspects she includes are always something new to me and so fun to discover when I read her books. The places she writes about are described so well that it's easy to imagine them as you read along. And the mother figures in her books are such wonderful woman; strong and honest and supportive, really such great examples.

7. Little House on the Prairie Series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. One of my earliest memories is of my mom reading these books to me and my three older brothers. It was so fun to sit near her for a half hour or so and just enjoy these stories. Although, I'm fairly certain that my fear of panthers stems from these books cuz I remember Pa being chased by one in Little House in the Big Woods. I don't care if there aren't panthers near where I live, they're still scary! And I was always amazed at how much Almanzo Wilder would eat (Farmer Boy) and it always made me hungry.

6. The Goose Girl series by Shannon Hale. I just read the fourth one in this series last week and couldn't stop put it down. Seriously, I was almost tempted to miss the BYU football game I was so into it. But, since I knew I'd be meeting Pat, T and April, I decided to put the book down for awhile:) The characters in these books are so engaging and fun to read about. I think Shannon Hale did a wonderful job making these new stories from fairy tales. The last one, Forest Born, was so exciting and interesting. I think any girl age 10 and older should read these series.

5. The Work and the Glory series by Gerald Lund. I won't lie---I was obsessed with these books. As in, I've read them all multiple times. It truly was a big reason why I got so into Church History when I was younger. That doesn't mean that when I lived in Nauvoo I looked for Steed Row, or that I actually think Nathan went with Parley Pratt on his mission to Canada---I'm not that obsessed. But those stories made church history more alive to me.

4. Another series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan. This books may have scored higher on my list if I had not just re-read #3 and #1; honestly, they're all interchangeably wonderful. Anyway, I had been talking about Twilight with my then-12 year old nephew and he told me about this new series that he really liked, even better that Twilight that he wanted me to read. I was kinda reluctant, but after he gave me the first book he kept texting to me to see if I had started it. Well, being the awesome aunt that I am, I finally started reading it on a road-trip I was taking with some friends. Coudn't put it down. LOVED it. Riordan did a great job making Greek mythology fun and engaging and I seriously laughed out loud in all five books. Multiple times. When I was reading it on the road trip, my friends kept asking me why I was smiling or laughing or whatever...I felt kinda nerdy when I showed them what I was reading, but I got over it. They are great books. I bought the fourth and fifth ones the day they came out and had them finished that same day. Shocker. I also shared them with a good guy friend last year, this one was 28 years old, not 12, and he also loves them.

3. Enna Burning by Shannon Hale. (I know-could I have more Shannon Hale books on here? Clearly, the woman is amazing.) I was assigned to read this book in an LDS Literature class I took my senior year at BYU. I'm not entirely postive (my last couple years there are kind of hazy) but I think it was taught by this woman's husband. If not, I know I took a class from him---just maybe not that class. Either way, I loved it. I loved the imagery, and the relationships in the story and how easy it was to cheer for the heroine. I didn't know at the time that it was part of a series---but this will always be my #1 favorite in that series cuz it was the first I read and I learned to love the characters through it.

2. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I will ALWAYS love this book. It's one of the few I had to read in high school that I didn't hate. I love Scout and Jem's relationship, and I think Atticus is amazing. And have you seen the movie? Cuz that's just as wonderful. When I grow up I wanna be Miss Dubois; a mean old lady who sits on her porch with a gun on her lap and yells at little kids, "Don't you say 'hey' to me, you ugly little girl, you say 'Good afternoon, Miss Dubois.'" Classic. I wanted to put this book at number one so I appeared semi-scholarly, but I had to be honest...

1. Ella Enchanted by Gail Levine. SUCH a good book. It's so sweet and sincere and I just adore it. I could read it over and over...oh wait, I have. The movie was horrid! Seriously, the most awful attempt at book to screen I could imagine. I'm still angry about it. But, to calm the anger, I can always go back and re-read the book. The whole story just feels so genuine.

Alright, I kind of cheated with putting whole series on, but how could I pick a favorite?! And there are so many more I could include (Nancy Drew? Chronicles of Narnia? Not to mention the books that are in the back of my bookshelf---the ones I don't want anyone to know I own cuz they're so cheesy but I continue to re-read them semi-often). I also really enjoy reading biographies...but I usually don't re-read those once I've finished them and every single book on my top ten has been read by me multiple times. Except Forest Born, but that's cuz I just finished it last week.

Check out http://www.itsabeautyfilledlife.com for other Top Tens.

I Got Cut

At the very young age of seven, I first memorized the BYU fight song. My dad's seasons tickets to football and basketball gave me lots of opportunities to sing it. And sing I did. And I loved it. Except for the part that it's in the exact wrong range. A little too low to sing at the band, but if I go an octave up it's too hight. Anyone else with the problem?

Anyway, things have changed. I noticed the first lyric change about six or seven years ago...one I was mostly apathetic towards. Instead of singing, "stalwart men are true, wear the white and blue..." it was changed to "loyal, strong and true..." I guess they thought stalwart was a tongue twister?

But this newest change...I don't like it. I feel like I've bee kicked off the team. Always before I sang, "WE'RE on OUR way to fame and glory...as WE unfold OUR victory story, on WE go, to vanquish the foe..." Well now, I'm supposed to sin, "YOU'RE on YOUR way, YOU unfold YOUR victory story..." I mean seriously, why don't you just write my name below the line that says "CUT"? What did I do to deserve this? Nothing, I say. So, I'm just gonna keep singing it the way I like it. Cuz I'm pretty sure I'm part of that team.

Top Ten Reality "Stars"

I realize writing this post will expose just how much I enjoy reality TV...but I think I can at least find a support group with Kristina and Deb , so I'll risk it. Now, this top ten list is comprised of my current top ten reality stars so it means I can't write about Gev from SYTYCD, Pete from Season 2 of Biggest Loser or even New York (not the city or State, but the crazy female whose mother is "always telling the truth even when she is lying!"). And I do realize that I'm using the word "stars" in a VERY broad sense of the word.

10. I can't think of a #10---I did this backwards. I'm sure once So You Think You Can Dance is in full swing I'll have plenty more favorites...but I guess you just get the top nine for now.
9. Michael Irvin: former NFL wide receiver on Dancing with the Stars. I love how he's trying to compete with Jerry Rice and I love when he mouths the words to the song when he's dancing. Hilarious.
8. Laura on American's Next Top Model.The girl seems beyond clueless, but according to the judges takes a fierce picture. Now, I don't know if it's fierce or frightening, I'm just telling you what they say. I just like her attitude---she's very southern country and humble, and really, how can you not like that?
7. Clinton Kelly and Stacy London: hosts of What Not to Wear. Considering my last post, do I even need to explain that? Speaking of which, I just have no idea how to upload my video of that...if anyone knows how and can tell me, I'll be happy to share it. Or at least parts of it.
6. Rev Run and his family: starring on Run's House on MTV. Okay, their lifestyle is definitely not normal or something with which I can relate---but c'mon, it's a family on a reality show that is actually supportive of each other and that communicates and cares for each other. How do you not like that? Plus, one time the mom got confused (okay, she always seems a little confused) but she thought her daughter had bought a mountain lion. I'll never understand the process of how she got there.
5. Can The Soup count as reality TV? Cuz if so, then totally Joel McHale. He's absolutely hilarious---and I'll never get tired of the Whitney Houston clip he plays.
4. Kelly Osbourne: Daughter of Ozzy on Dancing with the Stars. Seriously---who would've thought that the offspring of the most disoriented, dysfunctional couple could make me almost cry? She was darling on Tuesday night, and her mom was crying she was so proud. I'm sure Ozzy would have been too if years of drug use and communing with the dark side had not rendered him incapable. She's totally my favorite of the women right now.
3. Coach Mo on the Biggest Loser. His face looks so sad to me---hopefully that changes after he loses lots of weight, right? But he still is so kind to everyone. I just hope he's always that awesome, and doesn't go all crazy like some other past contestants.
2. Louie Vito: Professional Snowboarder and current competitor on Dancing with the Stars. Seriously-watch 5 minutes of this kid in rehearsals and you'll love him, too. He kind of looks like he has no idea what he's doing....but he tries so hard and I love watching him and Chelsea together.

1. Chuck "the Iceman" Lidell: Mixed Martial Artist and former UFC champ now on Dancing with the Stars. I might like this man even more than I liked Ty Murray when he was on. He started out the first week so clueless, and I got a kick out of watching him try to remember to smile while he performed. I hope he's on the show for a good long while.

Who are you favorite reality stars?

Check out Sara at Domestically Challenged if you wanna do your own top ten.

Why Is It Monkeys and Not Monkies?

And really, why moose (plural) and not meese? Or at least mooses? Weird.

I'm linking up to Motherboard today for Randoms and Tunes, FYI.

*I went to the State Fair Wednesday night for the sole purpose of going on the Yellow Slide. LOVE that thing.

That's me with my cousins, Hilary and Garret. Also known as Celery and G$. At least in my phone.

*When people start to say the word "BBQ" I always think they're going to say my name. Kinda bugs. One time I convinced a boy that my middle name was "Q." Just Q---it didn't stand for anything. And that my family called me Barbie Q. He was mad when I told him the truth.

*I made some other boys mad when I told them that I had grown up in England and moved here when I was 16. Apparently my accent is THAT good that they'd believe me. They were angry when I told them I was joking.

*My old roommate, Emily, and I used to watch "What Not to Wear" together all the time. (We also watched awesome things like Biggest Loser, Laguna Beach, What I Like About You, She's the Man...I'm sure we did other things besides watch TV but I can't think of what right now). Anyway, we worked together and there were some issues with the dress code---so we shot a professional video of "What Not to Wear: BYU Independent Study Version." It was awesome. She was Clinton and I was Stacey...as far as our attitudes. Anyway, it's probly the coolest thing anyone has ever done at the place. And our kind-of supervisor TOTALLY took credit for it when it was finished. Said it was her idea, what she had done to work on it...let me tell you, she did NOTHING other than give her permission for us to work on it during our regular shift. I was angry---but also really passive so I never confronted her and her name is listed as Executive Producer. Lame. Whatever though, the video is still AMAZING. They should consider using it on the real show. Maybe I'll write TLC...

*I drank three 16 oz. glasses of water between 8 am and 11 am today. Hasn't made for the most comfortable work day. Just sayin.

TUNES:
1. I Can't Smile Without You-Barry Manilow
2. Within You-Ray Lamontagne
3. Over the Rainbow-Eva Cassidy
4. Honk and Wave-Limbeck
5. Forget the Flowers-Wilco
6. Be Calm-Fun.
7. Somday-John Legend
8. All Will Be Well-Gave Dixon Band
9. I Was Made For You-Rivers Cuomo
10. Stand out-A Goofy Movie

Those are all on my playlist at the bottom of the blog if you wanna check them out. And really, you should want to.

I Must Be A Better Actor Than I Thought

So, I'm sitting in church Sunday before the meeting starts, reverently listening to the prelude music and pondering things of great importance (cuz, you know, that type of behavior really exists in a singles ward...) and this guy asks me, "Hey, will you teach Sunday School for me next week?" My immediate response: "Nu-uh. No way." He blinked and kind of sat there a second. I think I heard crickets chirping between us. Then, "Wow. I don't think I've ever had anyone turn me down so vehemently." I think he thought that would make me feel a little guilty and I'd retract my initial response. Wrong. I proceeded to explain to this fellow that I'm petrified of teaching. That when I was a Relief Society teacher I got sick every week, and stressed and hated, nay--loathed it, and how I will never, ever teach Sunday School cuz there are boys there. Way too scary. And he responds, "Really? You're so outgoing that I would've never guessed that."

Wha? Um...does he know me? At all?

I then reminded him I was in the ward a good 6 months before we ever even spoke. That it's basically like pulling teeth to get me to play hostess to game nights. That when given the choice between a movie with 2 or 3 friends and a monster party, I'd pick the movie LONG before the party. After thinking about it for about .2 seconds he agreed---and asked someone else to teach.

Random Things

First, I would like you all to take a second to recognize the monumental event that just occurred. I posted videos on my blog. Real-life videos. I've never been able to do this before. Unlike Kip, I am not such a fan of technology. Also, if you only have time to watch one video---make it the third one. It's less than a minute and you won't regret it. Unless you have no soul---in which case I can do nothing for you.

Now, on to some random things.

1st: you're going to want to watch this video twice. I promise, it won't make any difference.


2nd: Why am I wasting my time learning how to Pop it, lock it, polka-dot it when I should be learning this dance?!

Whatever happened to all the manufactured British bands? Steps? S Club 7? A Teens? The world is a darker place without them.

3rd: if you don't think this joke is funny, then you're dead inside. Just sayin.

What Do You Do At Family Reunions?

Do you...

...Hang out with your 14 year-old nephew that has no business being taller than you? (Same with the 13 and 11 year old nieces, and 12 year old nephew.)


...Have a monster slip-n-slide for the little kids?


...Or the big kids?


..Or the gorilla?


...Have two year olds struggle with swimsuit modesty?


...Or one year olds struggle with swimsuits in general?


...Have so many photographers that it'll take 8 years to make it through ALL the pictures taken during the week?


...Participate in strategic planning sessions for the Gold Medal (aka Snickers) in Family Olympics?


...Get confused and embarrassed after you hold hands with the wrong dad? (Understandable when there are 11 to choose from.)


...Stay up till 2:00 or 3:00 a.m. every night playing volleyball and soccer?


...Attempt to fit 27 adults and 42 kids into a cabin with 40 person capacity?


No? That's just my family?
Good to know.

Top 10 Things That Made Fiji Awesome

Sara at Domestically Challenged has this new thing: Top Ten Thursdays. I thought my trip wrap-up in Fiji would work well for that, so here goes.

10. Walking on the beach at night. The weather was SO perfect!! After trying to squeeze in all the activities we could in Australia and New Zealand it was great to get to Fiji with no set plans and just relax in the warm weather.

9. Seeing this guy catch a fish while we were walking. I tried to get a non-blurry picture, but I don't think that guy was crazy about us taking pictures so this is what you get.

8. Running into the missionaries in Nadi. (PS-they pronounce it Nandi. Who knew?) Even better? They were wearing dress-skirts-lava-lava things.

7. Hard Rock Cafe. Enough said.

6. Our awesome hostel that wasn't at all creepy.

5. We were a little nervous about the cleanliness and such, so we used out t-shirts as pillow cases. And we pushed our beds all together cuz it's fun..not cuz we were arguing about who would sleep closest to the door.

4. Day Cruise=AWESOME. So pretty. So fun. Blue water. White beach. Apparently I can only use two-word sentences to describe the wonderfulness thereof. Do you know what I did there? I went scuba-diving. That's HUGE for me. HUGE! I have this thing where I'm terrified of the ocean and all things inside it. I've never even wanted to scuba dive...but when the Fijian guy was talking about it, for some odd-spontaneous reason I signed up. I'm not gonna lie, I was too freaked out the whole time to really appreciate it and I'm most likely never gonna do it again as long as I live...but at least I did it the one time. Right?

3. Being mermaids. In theory it was a good idea but once the idea was carried through the massive amounts of salt water in both my nose and ears dampened the activity.

2. I told you; pretty pretty beach. Can you believe a place like this really exists?!

1. Seeing this guy at our hostel reading Twilight! I know it's fuzzy. My cousin that took the picture was trying to be sneaky and not have the guy realize what she was doing. C'mon, whether you like the books or not, it's kind of awesome, no?


Verdict: Pretend that for some odd reason I have lots of money when I get married: I'm fully going there on my honeymoon. The only thing I'd change? Maybe not stay in a hostel with inordinate amounts of geckos and questionable bedding.

Defying Gravity. And Death.

First I defied death. Many times. I hate driving. I hate it in Utah when I drive on the right (literally) side of the road. But then I went and did it in New Zealand! On the left side of the road, but the right side of the car. It was weird. And many times I would try and turn my blinker on, but guess what? The blinker mechanism is on the other side in these cars, so I would turn on my windshield wipers instead. It happened way too many times.

Do you see the crazy speed of the cars around me in this picture? They were going 100 mph!! Oh wait, that was kilometers. JK Still, it was scary. But, I prayed for help, and I can promise you I got it. Hence the being able to come home in one piece.

As far as defying gravity, I mostly just helped it along when my cousin Becky and I went bungy jumping. Marie was too scared/sensible to join us.

These are the bathroom signs. I'm not really sure how that would work out...

Here I am getting multiple safety things attached to me.

And here I am taking the dive. I wish I would've jumped instead of just falling. I think it would make the picture more exciting. But hey, the jump was pretty amazing by itself. Seriously-it's one of the most exciting things I've ever done! I got a post-card of this picture and I REALLY wanted to send it to my parents before I got home to surprise/scare them. But alas, the mail would've been too slow. Sad day.

And don't worry, here I am being towed back up to safety.

And now I'm able to enjoy the amazing New Zealand skyline after surviving my fall.


In case you were wondering which one I liked more; I would bungy jump a MILLION more times before I rented another crazy car.

Scenery and Such

One of the best parts of New Zealand was how amazingly gorgeous it was! My cousins and I went on a day hike just outside of Rotorua in a rain forest type place that was very green and very lovely. There were double rainbows as we drove home that we tried to capture, but my digital just couldn't fully show how beautiful it was! After the hike, we stopped at a natural hot spring (shockingly enough it smelled of rotten eggs!) to take a little swim.







Of course you HAVE to stop for pictures when you see a ginormous chair like this.




There were sheep everywhere!


See?


This is at Piha; a black beach where they filmed the second Johnny Lingo. It was SO amazingly beautiful! We had the place basically to ourselves for a good hour and half and had fun hiking around, playing and jumping in the waves, and taking crazy pictures. We wanted to stay for the sunset, but I was a little nervous about driving back on the winding, rainy road so we decided to forego that option.










I can't explain why, but I just think this picture is great. I love the outline of the feet in the review mirror. So relaxing and carefree.


Coming up: the two craziest things I did in New Zealand.